


Birds in A Nest

by RainCoveredLens, ToMarsAndBeyond3



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Boy is gonna learn something today, Dirk Gently (mentioned) - Freeform, Farah Black (mentioned) - Freeform, I might do a Cross character study soon, Todd Brotzman (mentioned) - Freeform, Vogel is pure and deserves much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 06:44:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15600603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainCoveredLens/pseuds/RainCoveredLens, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToMarsAndBeyond3/pseuds/ToMarsAndBeyond3
Summary: Vogel finds a file while runmaging through the van, and learns he has a living relative. The only course of action he can think of is to visit her and learn the truth about his past.





	Birds in A Nest

Vogel had a family, and then he had his relatives.

The boy couldn't remember his parents, nor his brothers or sisters. Not the old ones, anyway. Anything before Blackwing was lost to him, he'd been far too young to remember. And he'd grown into a wild, kind young man; he would do anything for his family. Those Rowdies, they were everything to him. And that was why he had to sneak away now.

There was a box that Marrin kept hidden away, a box that was only to be opened if you wanted the past to creep out. No one did, and so it was not opened. But Vogel had a curious mind, and so one night as everyone slept, he'd stepped over Amanda.

And he opened it.

His brother was dead. His baby sister was dead. Both of his mothers, dead.

But his aunt, his aunt was alive.

Vogel didn’t know what an aunt was, but asking Gripps, he'd said that it was a sister to a parent. And that was mind blowing to Vogel. So here he was, sneaking out as his family slept to find something he wasn't sure he even wanted to know about. The wristwatch he was wearing struck eleven in the morning as he turned a corner, and he found it.

The house.

It was a very unassuming house, so much so that it made Vogel suspicious. It was like whoever lived there was trying to be normal and blend in. He approached it, becoming very suddenly aware of his punk, raggedy clothes and his plethora of pins stuck to his jacket. Wild hair, shaved and styled stuck out in all directions, but he didn't mind.

Vogel stood in the doorway.

And he knocked.

“Coming!” A voice called out as footsteps sounded. The door pulled and a woman appeared with a smile that faded rather abruptly. “J-Jacob?”

“Bleh. That’s a bad name.” Vogel stuck out his tongue. “Hiya! I'm Vogel! I think you’re a person I'm supposed to like, know!”

“You’re- you-” The woman was a bit shorter than Vogel, but she looked so familiar. Soft features, a long dark braid. She reached forward slowly and carefully touched the front of his jacket. “You’re alive?“

“I can't give you my jacket man.” Vogel frowned at her. “The guys are gonna be asleep for a while. So I thought I'd go see this place.”

“I don’t want- the guys? Which guys?” She frowned. “How did you even find me?”

“Martin has a file box in case we wanna know.” Vogel gave a wide smile. “Martin's great! He's like, my big brother. Or my dad. And Gripps and Cross are amazing! Them and Amanda and Beast are like my brothers, except Amanda and Beast aren't guys.”

“Those, are those, those aren’t Blackwing agents are they?” She asked, suddenly looking a bit more skittish than she had a moment ago.

“You mean those guys who locked us away?” Vogel's eyes widened. How could anyone mistake him family for them? “No way! We burned that place to the ground a long long time ago.”

“You- you burned- would, do you want to come in?” She asked. “I just made food, if you want something.”

“Promise I won't smash your stuff man! Maybe your neighbor!” Vogel ducked under her, and into the house.

Again, it was a simple house; she was trying too hard. But it was beautiful, and very different from Vogel's lifestyle. He looked out of place with his wild demeanor in this rather domestic place.

“Well, her yard could always use a, tune up.” The woman smiled lightly as she closed the door and walked around Vogel toward the kitchen and something that smelled amazing.

“Yeah man! I can bring the guys over and you can meet them and we can smash and break stuff!” Vogel followed her, mostly intrigued by the smell.

“So, who are these guys?” She asked. “Are they safe? Are you safe?”

“Why wouldn't we be? We're awesome!” But Vogel had the feeling she was looking for a different answer, so he tried something else. “We were the same project. In Blackwing, that bad place.”

“You found others like you?” She turned as they made it to the kitchen and watched him with a look of sad curiosity. “That’s, amazing, Jac- Vogel.”

“They're my favorite. I just remember lots of things hurting, then I met them! It was awesome! Then they took bats and they burst the doors open and we all ran away! I was small. That was in 2001.”

“That was 17 years ago.” She said.

“Yup!” Vogel's smile grew. He had been free for seventeen years. “We found this cool van and made it ours and now we live there! We go around smashing bad people and eating them and we all take care of each other! And sometimes we help out this Dirk guy.”

“Is Dirk a, like you?” She frowned. She didn’t seem overly worried about the vandalism, which seemed rather odd.

“Nah he has something different. The universe tells him to go places. And Drummer can make lightning appear! That's Amanda.” Vogel leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. “One time she threw a brick at the bad smiley guy.”

“Priest?” Her eyes widened as she lost a bit of her color.

“Yup! Haven't seen him since, but Drummer Boss is ready to hit him again!”

“But, he’s alive? He’s out there somewhere?” She looked properly panicked now. 

“Somewhere. He's not following us. Because we break his stuff every time.” Truth be told, Vogel was terrified of him. The man sent chills down his spine, and he was always ready to run from him, and only him.

“I’m more worried about him finding me. Especially if you could.” She said quietly.

“Oh Dirk told me where. He's the universe guy. You're on on like a file or something, I just knew you were alive.” Vogel frowned. “You're all sad like. I'll leave.”

“No, no, please stay. I’m just, I’m just surprised.” She moved forward and held her hand out to stop him. “I thought you were dead, but, here you are.”

“I think I'd know if I was dead.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I suppose you would.” 

She glanced over toward the pot on the stove and then back at Vogel. 

“Why did you come looking? It’s been seventeen years after all.”

“The Rowdy Three are my family, except I found out there's a difference between family and like, the other related thing.” Vogel frowned. “They raised me! Taught me to read English and write English and speak it and stuff, and blew away nightmares and made me super cool! But like, Blackwing took their lives away. I wonder if they took mine too.”

She got a sad, faraway look on her face as she glanced down at the floor.

“I guess in a way they did. They- Priest- killed everyone, and took you. Blackwing took away whatever normalcy you might have had.”

“I am happy though. I love my guys. I don't remember anyone else but them.” Vogel was watching her with a quiet curiosity. She was a life Vogel could have had, but didn't. And he realized, Blackwing had taken something from him after all. They'd given him trauma and nightmares and scars, but they had physically taken this away from him. “Were there other people?”

“Your siblings, and your moms. Your birth mom, my sister, Charlene. She was like you.” 

“Me?”

Vogel held out his hand, and a light, almost white blue light started to swirl above his palm. It was a manifestation of leftover energy from a feeding; Amanda had had an attack the day before. It glowed, lighting the kitchen in the soft, unearthly shadow it cast.

“But instead of taking emotions, she could give them. You were like opposites.” She said quietly. “You siblings didn’t have any, whatever. They were adopted. That’s why Blackwing- it’s why they weren’t spared.”

“But how they find me? Did I hurt someone?” Vogel's voice went a little quiet. He would never hurt someone who didn't deserve it, but he had also been a child. A toddler.

“No. It, it was my fault.” She said quietly. “My, powers or abilities or whatever you want to call them, are, unstable. I hoped Blackwing would be able to help me. But they found out about Charlene, and you, and they didn’t care about helping me anymore.”

“What can you do? I bet if you had nice people they wouldn't be that way. Mine were for a long time. And this kid in Blackwing. They’re not here now, they died. Then they died again. And again.”

“I can do what Charlene did.” She said holding up her hand and a bright red light appeared there, very much like Vogel’s. “I have more control now, but it’s glitchy.”

Vogel lowered his hand to let his light fade. “If you don't like the energy, it won't be nice. But-” And then, in a classic Vogel move, he got an idea. “You know who can help?”

“No, Vogel. It’s really-”

“But, you wanna meet them anyway right? Because like, I think, I mean you're nice, and I'm nice, and I think we're related and those three things mean you might care.”

“I-” She paused for a moment before nodding her head. “Alright. We can meet with your family.”

“Do you got a snack? Can I sit down? These are new pants I stole them they aren't dirty.” Vogel resumed his bouncy attitude, quite literally bouncing. He was always on the move. He'd spent his childhood restrained, and on top of that, he just couldn't stop twitching and tapping and bouncing.

“Yes. Take a seat.” She said smiling as she turned back to the cupboards and pulled out two bowls. She walked over to the stove and quickly served up the food that definitely looked like pasta but smelled like that city they had gone through on the river, with the music and the colors.

The colors were Vogel's favorite part.

“The coolest thing I’ve done, is, is when Drummer Boss and I went to this fantasy world!” Vogel poked at the food, checking to make sure it wasn't alive. “There were pink haired people and tiny rainbow Canadian gremlins and a snail witch and people fighting with giant scissors! And the box heads!”

“That, doesn’t sound real.” She frowned slightly as she took a bit of the food.

“Not in this dimension. We traveled through a bathtub to get there.” Vogel nodded. Taking a bite too, it actually tasted great. “There was this project who could create stuff and he created that whole world and he lives there now.”

“Oh, well, that’s less insane, I suppose.” She said as she continued with her food.

“We do such cool stuff. Sometimes we turn on music and dance until we fall asleep, then sometimes we all sleep in a like in the van.”

“You sleep in a van?”

“That's our van. We ride around and live.”

“You live in a van?”

“We all do. It's the best.” She would see, she would. Vogel knew it.

“But why not a house? Or an apartment? A van?”

“We're a storm. We don't stay. We keep everything in all order because we're chaos.” Vogel said, mostly repeating things Amanda had said. “We live to move, and do what we want. No one can say what to do anymore. You'll see. It's really super great.”

“I’ll believe you.” She said, finishing her food and placing the bowl in the sink before grabbing some plastic containers for the food. “So, if you live in a van, are you just in town?”

“This is Seattle. We come here when Drummer Boss wants to see their brother or we gotta help Dirk. We're leaving in a few days when we feel like it.” Vogek nodded. They'd just finished helping that weird British guy on a case involving a goat, a balloon, and a sentient brick. “Oh hey! I got you something!”

“You, what?” She glanced up from packing up the leftovers and frowned. “You got me something?”

Vogel pulled a shining, crinkly packet from his jacket pocket. Weighing it in his hand, he held it out to the-

“Wait.” Vogek frowned. “What's your name?”

“Oh! Right! Kate.” She said, smiling. “Sorry, I guess I forgot to introduce myself.”

“Cool. Well, this is a poptart. It's our favorite.” Vogel extended his hand further and Kate made an odd face at the shiny packet in his hand, smiling after a moment. 

“Thank you.” She said as she took it. “That’s very kind of you.”

“Cool!”

“And this is for you.” She said, packing the plastic boxes she had placed the food in, into a bag and holding it out to Vogel. “Probably not enough for a proper meal for all of you, but perhaps you could all come round and I could make enough for everyone.”

“Heck yeah!” Vogel jumped to his feet; the guys would like it here, and Martin would love to help cook. “You got a bat I could have? I left mine.”

“Hall closet.” She smiled lightly.

“Great! Come on!”

Vogel was racing down the hallway, and in seconds he had found the bat. The metal was cold in his hands, and the dark blue color made Vogel smile. It was perfect.

“Can you make sure to get the gnomes? I hate them so much.” 

“Not yet! You gotta meet my family!” Vogel turned, Kate was walking down the hall with the bag in hand. “They're awake by now. I left a note.”

“They won’t worry, will they?” She asked as she grabbed another bag - probably her purse, Amanda had explained them to Vogel - and a set of keys.

“Well, maybe I can call them.” 

Vogel sighed. He pulled out a phone - everyone was so surprised he had one - and he hit the button that led him to Amanda. He mostly used it to play games on rare occasions, but that was really it. The phone only rang once before Amanda appeared on the other end.

“Vogel?! Where are you? What happened? Are you okay? Why-”

“I met my aunt. Can she meet you? I love you guys so much that I wanna show her.”

“You met- you have an aunt? She’s in Seattle? Wait, Vogel, are you sure that this woman is actually your aunt and not just some crazy person?”

“Farah says so.” Vogel hummed. And what Farah said was law.

“Oh well if Farah says.” Amanda sighed. “Yeah. Bring her over, or, do you want us to come to? We- Martin, knock it off! I’ve got this!”

“Nah I'm coming. Fix the fire, it's sad! Bye! Use the text word thing!” Vogel pulled the phone back, hitting the big red button in the center. He had left a note, but the guys were eternally worried about each other. Especially after Blackwing the second time around. “Come on!”

“I’ll drive.” Kate said, holding her keys up.

“No we can walk it's not far.” Vogek shook his head. “Besides I'm getting ice cream! And gummies for everyone! I can tell you about my life and you can tell me stuff!”

“That seems like a plan.” She said, smiling as they headed out the door, locking it behind them. “Lead the way.”

They got about ten steps before Vogel burst, words spilling out of his mouth. He just couldn't help himself, and Kate seemed rather interested in hearing him out.

“So our van has all our stuff on top!” Vogel was saying, swinging his bat freely and not so much caring about mailboxes that got in the way of his fun. People never called the cops on them,and sometimes just didn't notice. That was the way of the universe. “And Martin drives usually! But we all take turns when it's late and Martin is sick. We painted the side and It's all dented but it's ours! Inside the back is all empty for us and we have chains hanging down because it looks cool! I sleep in the corner because that's my nest and everyone joins me, we all sleep together.”

“You all-” She frowned over at him. “Like-”

“Ew no!” Vogel stuck out his tongue again, pretending to bw throwing up. “None of us like that stuff. Its gross. So is dating. Only Drummer does that stuff and with other people. We sleep in a pile so when we wake up we're not alone.”

“I see.” Kate nodded. “I’m the same way.” 

“And that's our van! It's the best. Best home ever.”

“It certainly sounds lovely.” She said, smiling lightly. 

“But you have a worry smell on you.”

“It’s just, six people in a van, on the run from a shady government agency, while following the whims of universe. It doesn’t exactly scream, comfortable.”

“We're not on the run. That’s our home.” Vogel frowned again. “When I'm sad, I sit in one of their jackets, and we all pile around so the nightmares and shaking and voices go away. And when someone's sick, we all stop and get the fluffiest blanket. When Drummer Boss has a code red, we have chocolate for her. Everyone is soft and warm and yeah it's a van, is it not supposed to be a van?”

They hadn't ever been on the run. When the escaped, that was it. Blackwing lost funding within months, and it fell, and they were free. Sure they could have gotten a house, but where was the fun in that?

“I’m sorry, I’m making it sound like I hate your living arrangement. It’s just, it’s different than what I’m used to. It’s different from the life your moms were going to give you. But, if it makes you happy, that’s what matters.”

“They're like, my dads and brothers at the same time.” Vogel hummed.

The day was overcast, clouds stalking them in the sky like a camera in the corner, threatening to close in completely. The streets were rather busy, but of course, no one paid attention to Vogel or Kate. 

Holism was just like that.

“I’m glad you were able to find people to keep you safe.” She said, smiling over at him lightly, the fine lines around her eyes much more visible in the daylight as opposed to her kitchen.

“Heck yeah!” Vogel jumped into the air. “I-”

Vogel stopped dead, a sound and a smell catching his ear that made him shake with excitement. It was almost like a call, though that what that british guy would call a hunch. Someone needed to be smashed, and as Vogel turned, he saw.

A man, sitting on his porch in an alleyway, ranting on his phone and saying some very mean things about gay people.

Vogel adjusted his grip on the bat.

“Hold on.” Kate said, holding her hand out, and odd smile on her face. “Let’s give you a proper meal.”

She held her hand up and the red light flowed from her, down the alley and right into the man. His anger skyrocketed as the red lights swirled around him, shouting all the louder.

A maniacal laugh left Vogel, and he took his bat, picked up a rock, and threw it right at the man's phone as he stalked forward.

“The fuck man!?”

“Duck!” Vogel threw something else, more laughter as he got even closer. “I'm gonna break your face!”

“You don’t scare me you no good, little, f-” A rock hit the man right between the eyes and Vogel heard Kate hiss a little victory for herself.

And Vogel jumped on the man, and the alley, it was filled with blue light.

And then the man was gone, and Vogel was content.

“Not bad.” Kate said as he walked back out of the alley. “Was the anger too much? It’s been a while since I’ve done that with the intention of someone feeding off them.”

“It's cool!” Vogel smiled, pulling her along. “But anger is like, candy. We live off fear.”

“I can’t pick the emotion. Just amplify the ones that are there.” She said shrugging.

“Hey, question man?” Vogel watched traffic pass. “You knew it was me?”

“You had an uncle, you mom and my brother. He died in a car accident. But you look just like him.” She said, smiling over at him. “Also, I have a pretty good sense of smell and holistics smell weird.”

“Dirk smells like cookies.”

“And you smell like a thunderstorm. You always have.” She said.

“The lightning is cool.” Vogel had an odd feeling inside of him. That was how he always smelled, as in his whole life.

The ice cream shop was cool and airy, and smelled sweet all around. Vogel was able to purchase - they did carry money, contrary to popular belief amongst the holistic agency - a large bag of gummy worms. Once that was done though, he was ready to go before Kate went to get an ice cream for herself. And soon enough they were walking again, talking about all manner of things.

And Vogel learned.

After about half an hour, they arrived close to an empty parking lot, and Vogel stopped.

“Is this it?” Kate asked, shifting the bag she was still carrying to her other hand.

“Mmhm.” Music was playing through the streets, bouncing off the walls. “Come on.”

The van was parked at an angle and nowhere near any of the lines. They had indeed gotten the fire back up to a very nice height and Martin looked up first from where he was lounging.

Vogel opened his mouth to yell a greeting, but he never got to. Someone tackled him backwards, but to his credit he didn't fall. Vogek was picked up, and spun around, by Cross, who was starting to ruffle his hair.

“Little bird is back!” Cross pulled him in for a hug, but then let him go in favor of offering a handshake to Kate. “Hey.”

“Hello.” She smiled, taking his outstretched hand and holding up the bag. “We bring a small dinner and gummies.”

“They got food!” Cross tilted his head upwards to cry to the others. “Come on! Little Bird that's a good bad!”

Vogel was ushered into the arms of his other brother, Gripps, and then had Amanda pull him tight. Worried, Vogel could tell, but alright. Beast seemed concerned he had vanished but she was mostly preoccupied with the bag of food that cross had taken from Kate. And Martin was still watching from his chair.

“Martin?” Vogel quieted his voice, and downcast his eyes like a child being caught red handed. “I'm sorry.”

Bad, voices from the past screamed at him. You could have left and they would have been taken. You're in trouble, always trouble.

“Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry for, Vogel. Just glad you’re safe.” Martin said as he stood and walked over. “You went through the box.”

“I'm sorry.” Bad, awful.

“It’s okay, Vogel.” Martin said, wrapping his arms around Vogel and pulling him in for a hug. “Don't you worry now.”

The voices, Vogel decided, weren't important today. He hugged Martin back, making sure to melt in his brother's arms for a good minute. But then he pulled back, and turning around, he leaned backwards so Martin could still hug him.

“She nice?” Martin whispered.

“She's sad.”

“They’re always sad.” 

“Why?”

“Losin’ stuff is always sad. And those who are left after Blackwing have lost a lot.” Martin said quietly, watching as Kate smiled while talking with the others.

“Are we sad, Martin?” Vogel pulled at his pins; each one had a story, and a smile to go with it. 

“I ain’t sad. Are you?”

“No way!”

“Then nah. Sad ain't us.”

Vogel pulled closer, and he watched as everyone danced. They laughed, and told stories, and little by little Kate started to relax. Then she was laughing to. Vogel joined in the dancing of course, to see if he could outdo Amanda. And then Beast jumped on him, and it turned into a piggyback fight.

Vogel knew Kate couldn't stay, and he knew that he didn't really want her to. She was nice, but she wasn't his family. And as the day came to a close, a setting sun peeking out of the clouds, Vogel watched her leave.

And soon she was gone.

And everything was absolutely perfect.


End file.
